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Culture Shock: How to Avoid It

Traveling is fun; you get to see unfamiliar places, get to know other people, and experience cultures different from your own. But traveling sometimes has its difficulties, for instance, the feeling of being left out, lost, and lonesome. These feelings are often caused by culture shock. Culture shock is a vicious affliction a traveler should fight and avoid. The concept of traveling is to connect and discover places and not to be detached from it. Follow these tips to avoid this feeling and make your travels a lot more pleasurable and carefree:

Be prepared

Never travel when you’re unprepared, especially when you’re prone to travel stress such as culture shock. Doing a research about your trip destination helps a lot; it prepares you for your travel. Use the World Wide Web to get the information you need. Buy a map and learn by heart the places you want to see such as restaurants, library, museums, malls, etc. If you are visiting a foreign country, learn and practice speaking its basic language. Learning simple words like “hello”, “how are you”, and “thank you” helps with your interactions with the locals.

Communicate

Spend some time communicating with the people around you when you travel. It gives you the opportunity to connect and meet new friends. By doing this, you won’t feel alone. It can be helpful to talk to another person, especially if that person is also a traveler like you.

Keep a journal

Whenever you travel, always bring a journal with you. Write down your thoughts about everything that is happening around you. It keeps you on track of everything. If you’re feeling lonely and incomplete, write it down and think of something that would turn these feelings around. If you’re having a good time and have no one to share it with, scribble your feelings and thoughts; consider your journal as something that would understand you no matter what situation you’re in.

Stick to your plans

If you’re planning to have a fun travel, then let it be fun. Remember your plans and stick with it. This is a great strategy to avoid culture shock just by letting yourself do want you want and shun away the feeling of being disconnected and lonely. Take control and always stick to your plan; don’t let the feeling of culture shock affect you.

Be open-minded

Remember that when you travel, new culture and beliefs will come your way. It is important to keep an open mind to help you understand the unfamiliar things happening around you. Interact with the locals, try new kinds of foods, and be a part of some local activities. The more you become familiar with the new culture, the more you’ll be attached to it.

Let go

Traveling often gives you the opportunity to do things you’ve always wanted to do – a time to get away from your daily strife in life. To be able to make our travel the way you want it to be, you have to let go. Free yourself from worries and just remember the reasons why you travel. A travel stress such as culture shock will not affect you as long as you do what you want to do. Don’t think too much and just enjoy your travel.

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